National Education Ass'n v. Unified School District 259

608 P.2d 1367, 4 Kan. App. 2d 443, 105 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2276, 1980 Kan. App. LEXIS 200
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMarch 21, 1980
DocketNo. 50,554
StatusPublished

This text of 608 P.2d 1367 (National Education Ass'n v. Unified School District 259) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Education Ass'n v. Unified School District 259, 608 P.2d 1367, 4 Kan. App. 2d 443, 105 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2276, 1980 Kan. App. LEXIS 200 (kanctapp 1980).

Opinion

Spencer, J.:

In this action National Education Association - Wichita (NEA-W) seeks injunctive and mandamus relief against Unified School District 259, Sedgwick County, (Board) for alleged prohibited practices under the collective negotiations statutes, K.S.A. 72-5413 et seq.

Specifically, the issues on appeal from judgment entered in favor of defendant are whether the acts of the Board in granting a deduction from teachers’ salaries for membership dues to be paid the Wichita Federation of Teachers (WFT), and the publication of a directory which listed the telephone number, the names of the president and of the vice president, and the post office box number of that association, constitute prohibited practices under the collective negotiations statutes.

Plaintiff is the exclusive representative of all teachers employed by defendant for the purpose of professional negotiations and, admittedly, defendant is required by law to recognize plaintiff as such. It is also admitted that defendant publishes a directory which includes the telephone number, the names of the president and vice president, and the post office box number of the Wichita [444]*444Federation of Teachers, a professional employees’ organization, and that defendant makes a salary deduction for membership dues to be paid to that organization.

It was stipulated by the parties that the testimony of Dr. Alvin Morris, superintendent of schools of U.S.D. 259, would be to the effect that the Board, in regular session on September 30, 1968, had instituted a salary deduction or dues checkoff procedure for members of a rival organization of plaintiff, as well as for members of the forerunner of plaintiff, prior to any formal or official recognition of plaintiff as the official bargaining unit; and that such salary deductions had not been instituted through the collective bargaining or negotiation process, but rather were to provide a service for the employees and teachers of defendant.

The record also reflects that at the time this lawsuit was commenced there was in existence a contract negotiated between plaintiff and defendant which provided for a continuation of deductions for NEA-W dues from compensation paid to members of that association in accordance with the teachers’ authorization for such.

It is argued that defendant has the affirmative duty to negotiate only with plaintiff and, hence, the duty not to negotiate with another association. Plaintiff contends that defendant’s actions, principally those of deducting dues to be transmitted to WFT, amount to recognition of WFT contrary to the intent of K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5415, which provides in part:

“(a) The representative designated or selected for the purposes of professional negotiation by the majority of the professional employees in an appropriate negotiating unit shall be the exclusive representative of all the professional employees in such unit for such purpose.”

In support of this position, plaintiff notes that the dues deduction for NEA-W, along with other customs and policies established prior to 1970, are subjects which were properly negotiated and which are covered by the provisions of the contract between the parties. It is suggested that dues deductions for WFT “certainly did not spontaneously spring to life” and that at some time WFT and its members requested a dues deduction and the Board responded by granting that request. It is asserted that defendant, by its actions in making a deduction for WFT membership dues, is engaging in prohibited practices as defined by K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5430, which provides in part:

[445]*445“(b) It shall be a prohibited practice for a board of education or its designated representative willfully to:
“(2) dominate, interfere or assist in the formation, existence, or administration of any professional employees’ organization;
“(6) deny the rights accompanying recognition of a professional employees’ organization which are granted in K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 72-5415 . . . .”

On the other hand, defendant contends the deduction for dues is merely a “service” provided to those teachers of the system who belong to WFT. Defendant emphasizes that it does recognize plaintiff as the exclusive representative of the teachers for purposes of professional negotiations and that WFT dues deduction does not detract from that recognition. It is also suggested that to allow dues deduction exclusively for the benefit of plaintiff would itself be a prohibited practice under K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5430(6)(2).

Within a school district, payroll deductions of professional association membership dues with consent and authorization of the individual teacher, with the association to take responsibility for errors, is a mandatorily negotiable item as a term and condition of professional service which has a greater direct impact on the well-being of the individual professional employee than on the operation of the educational system. K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5413(l); NEA-Topeka, Inc. v. U.S.D. No. 501, 225 Kan. 445, 592 P.2d 93 (1979). See also Tri-County Educators’ Ass’n v. Tri-County Special Ed., 225 Kan. 781, 784, 594 P.2d 207 (1979); Chee-Craw Teachers Ass’n v. U.S.D. No. 247, 225 Kan. 561, 570, 593 P.2d 406 (1979).

Relying on NEA-Topeka, plaintiff reasons that the negotiated arrangements for membership dues deductions for its members within the school system result in an exclusive list of such deductions and any departure from that list by extending such privilege to the members of a rival association is a prohibited practice under K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5430(6), in that it amounts to assistance to the rival and a denial of rights accompanying recognition granted plaintiff under K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5415.

Defendant is required to recognize NEA-W for one purpose only, i.e., for the purpose of professional negotiations. K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 72-5415(a). There is no contention that this has not so far been accomplished, nor that defendant has failed to honor the contractual provision for NEA-W dues deductions. Although [446]

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608 P.2d 1367, 4 Kan. App. 2d 443, 105 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2276, 1980 Kan. App. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-education-assn-v-unified-school-district-259-kanctapp-1980.